He is an abbreviation; inert gas is not. I got it eventually but it's misleading even a Saturday puzzle that wants to be cute and difficult needs to follow some rules
2
@Chef Mark K chemical symbol. He is a chemical symbol, not an abbreviation.
I have a bone to pick. When an answer is a foreign city there should be consistency in the language in the answer, ust as convention calls for the answer to be in the same language as the clue. I therefore call major foul on 13D where the fill is SAO PAULO. This is a total mishmash of the Portuguese and English forms of the city's name. Portuguese: SAO PAOLO English= SAN PAULO. I could not figure out why my fill was wrong when I knew it was right. So I finally broke down and looked it up and discovered that at least it wasn't me!
1
Except the city is spelled Sao Paulo in Portuguese. Paolo is Italian.
4
I knew I was in trouble when the first run through the clues yielded only one answer. And that one turned out to be wrong. (Phi instead of TAI)
My pop culture idiocy was on display yesterday when I was actually heard to say, “There’s a new Star Wars movie?” and again today with my total lack of knowledge of TREVOR NOAH. (I’d heard the name, knew absolutely *nothing* about him. Didn’t know he was a TV host, certainly didn’t know he was octo-lingual.)
194-day streak TORPEDOED after a 2:28:47 min battle.
Refreshing originality in the clueing, even though it kicked my glutes up between my shoulder blades.
3
Slow steady progress made for a very enjoyable solve. Great clues, even though disputed at length below, worked fine for me. Thanks!
3
I’ve never met a cockney who uses “howdie” as a greeting. AUDI is therefore moot.
10
Agreed. My knowledge of cockney comes more from “My Fair Lady” than from any scholarly linguistic research, but this clue seemed to play more on the stereotypical dropping of leading consonants than on any actual speaking of the dialect I’ve ever heard.
One small stumble among an otherwise entertainingly misdirectional clue array.
1
Thanks to co-solving with visiting grad school boy (celebrating his 23rd year also), this was polished off substantially quicker than if I would have done alone. SQUADGOAL went out of my brain after the last puzzle that featured it and I arrived at it through crosses, but the young one got it immediately from the clue. Proud and jealous at the same time.
5
Meh. Just . . . meh.
1
@RP
Bleh. Solved it eventually but didn’t enjoy it.
2
@Linda Kirwan Yes, my reaction too.
Really evil clues for TRYST, HARDG and TAI! 🤓
ELIA?
I think Hotsy Totsy was an occasional character in Laverne and Shirley quite a while ago. Great clue. Sandalwood is fragrant only when the wood is cut or otherwise damaged.
That was fun! The “chi preceder” really threw me off for a while. I thought it referred to the Greek letter. Since I don’t know the correct sequence of the Greek alphabet, I filled in “tau” from the crossings, which prevented me from figuring out “He” is for helium and inert gas. Even after solving, I was still stumped because I was still reading the clue as “Tai Ki” instead of “tai chee” Haha.
4
@P
I went through exactly the same Greek alphabet process as you. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing...
I nominate the SQUAD GOALS x QUORA for the rare double"Hi, Mom!!" award.
6
@RAH
Love it! I suppose the much more common (daily?) double “Hi Kids!” award could go to JOE CAMEL x HOTSY TOTSY.
1
Ok. I’m going to add my voice to the list of people complaining about Hotsy Totsy - it does not mean A-O.K., I don’t care what Webster’s says.
Other ridiculous clues - nimbi? I had to go three pages into Google to find a definition for that, all I was getting was acronyms and coding articles. I submit that’s not a real word.
The inert gas one was clever, as was the figure in the corner.
4
Mike,
Search tip. When you're looking for definitions of words, enter the word definition after the word: the first several items should be ... definitions.
@Mike
When it comes to hundred-year-old slang, none of us are experts. But a little internet digging yields this, which pretty much confirms that HOTSY TOTSY at least originally meant A-OK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSHI93pOnYA
1
@Mike
'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.'
-Lewis Carroll
Why should we care what Webster's says anyway?
6
After a half hour last night and another hour this morning, trying to think of the name of that language, I guessed that maybe a word starting out HOTSYT- might end with OTSY, and that Y got me YIDDISH at last. One of my very few successes with today's puzzle.
I'm pretty sure Reveal Puzzle will say I have CALVE, maybe MAORI, and EMILEZOLA properly crossing ERICTHERED (if not, I will change some of those caps to lower case before posting).
HARDG was easy. And CASAS. But I seem to be asked to believe that some people say TRI for "triceps"? Surely not!
I got TUCCI and ARNE from research, confirming my STRAW and suggesting UCONN. Guesses elsewhere include MIRE and CLOVE, but even with TIMOR and HEXED(?), they don't help with crosses.
Enough! I've got a new streak started; I believe this is three in a row of unfinished puzzles. ("Your Statistics" says I have solved 1020 since I started to do them on line. I wonder if that includes these two Checked ones that I got "Congratulations" for?)
Surprize! OPEN, SOLOARTIST, PAD, and LIP were correct, as were OLDEN and RAG. And I would have had RAN, but I saw that would have the valedictorian thing starting with AA, so I nixed that.
1
Some fantastic clues this week. However, am I the only one who found 9A to be misleading, and not in a fun/good way? Something can be etched *into* one's memory, but I've never heard the phrase "etched a memory." As a standalone transitive verb, without a preposition, I don't think it means "form" in this context. Just my two cents.
1
@Adam - I use the phrase "etch a (particular) memory" and so do a lot of writers that I could find with a quick google search:
Google "etched this memory" and you'll find lots of examples, almost always with the complement "on a person's soul", "in a person's mind", "in a person's heart". In other words, the memory (of a moment) is what is etched, not where it is etched. Hope that makes sense.
1
@David Connell maybe I'm just bitter about the fact that the NE corner broke my streak.
I had read Trevor Noah’s wonderful memoir (and highly recommend it), so I immediately thought of him for 53A. I was happy to see he survived all the subsequent crossings. Also knew the Judds, and Stanley Tucci, but just about everything else took a lot of guesswork. Inert gas was about the last one I got. Great clue!
3
28a. Growing up as a New York Jew, a hotsy totsy was a name for people who thought a lot of themselves, which was not A-OK.
6
@Queenie
https://everything2.com/title/hotsy-totsy
Here's a ganze megillah about HOTSY TOTSY, that also ends with someone's observation that they had used it as 'fancy' or 'snobbish' growing up. That's how I've understood it also, mainly among people likely to have spoken YIDDISH, and quite possibly because it sounds a close relative to HOITY TOITY
9
@Leapfinger
Your instincts as always are impeccable. Here is what the OED has to say about hotsy-totsy.
Wonderful, delightful; just right. Also (in later use): pretentiously fashionable (cf. hoity-toity adj. b).
Hoity-toity adj. b reads as follows:
Assuming, haughty, petulant, huffy.
3
Another real toughie for me (but not as tough as yesterday). And like yesterday and many toughies, the upper left was the last to get filled in. (And I also start out thinking that Sao Paulo should have an O instead of its U.) Some really admirably deceptive clues, like "He is one" and "Unpublicized date." And I continue to be surprised and pleased by the small amount of pop trivia in recent puzzles. All in all, a very enjoyable Saturday puzzle!
7
PS re the petition to rename a shoal of squid a squad: Just think of the tongue-teasers that will soon be possible! And the new high-scoring Scrabble words, would only that there were a second Q in the game.
2
My New England geography really should be better. My first guess for 44 down was YALEU, though I now realize the distance from Providence to New Haven is more than twice that of Providence to Storrs. Curious, anyway, that UCONN is perpendicular to ELI(A).
Do I detect some political innuendo in the crossing of MAOJACKET with SQUADGOALS?
4
@Fidelio
And apropos of SQUADGOAL, should A-O.K. maybe be AOC?
Easy fill for a Saturday but the clues "he is one" and "chi preceder" made it all worthwhile. When I saw the grid having the letters J, Q, X, and Z my first thought was that we would have a pangram but, alas, I could not find a B or an F.
1
“Google” derives from a misspelling of “googol”, which is 1 with 100 zeros after it, and refers to the huge number of results generated by the algorithm. Not Barney Google.
2
Marguerite,
Do you know the narrative in the link Caitlin provided in the column to be false?
https://www.andreas.com/faq-origins-of-google.html
But to "goggle" is to look intensely, so maybe that, too, was part of Google's etymology, and hence also google's.
This is a fascination for me - google is named for a misspelling of googol which was a respelling of Google inspired by Barney Google. Lovely chain for an avid fan of the study of proper names.
The link provides an image of Barney Google on his steed, Spark Plug. Some may remember that Charles M. Schulz, creator of Peanuts, was nicknamed Sparky - not because he was a radio operator, as many "Sparky"s are - but in reference to that horse from the comic strip he loved while growing up.
3
Amazing clue-Ing.
Incredibly, the only clue I looked up, was my downfall.
I don’t know Greek, so looked up the alphabet to see what letter is before CHI. So I put in PHI. then nothing made sense in the bottom middle.
But, but, PHI can’t be wrong...I looked that one up! Stupid internet.
Being “sure” of SONG of Solomon didn’t help
Also, EMILEZOLA. thank goodness I literally had every cross. I couldn’t have gotten that even if only one letter was missing.
Can someone explain this GUAM NAM thing? Seems like an unlikely immigration route
1
"Can someone explain this GUAM NAM thing? Seems like an unlikely immigration route"
Newbie,
Wikipedia offers a good explanation:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_New_Life
@Barry Ancona
I just figured it out. I read the clue as GUAM to NAM. Not the other way around, which during the Vietnam war, makes complete sense.
1
@Newbie In the OLDEN days part of the pledging process (i.e. hazing) of joining a fraternity was the requirement that you know the Greek alphabet. The drill for this was to hold a lighted match between your thumb and forefinger and recite the alphabet out loud; you could only blow out the match when you got to omega. I still remember the alphabet and I've used this knowledge numerous times in solving crosswords.
If you started in the NE corner, as I did, you might have filled in MAORI before CALVE or ANWAR, as I did, and thus you may be holding up your hand, as I am, for having IRR before VAR.
2
'he is one' was simply brilliant. good work Mr Lim.
8
@lioncitysolver
I'm no expert on the Greek alphabet, and had enough crosses in place to hazard TAU preceding Chi. That gave me a head start on considering UNI ROYAL as a regal singular for 'He is one'.
Her Highness here will never tire of laughing at that nonsensical head-slap
1
Leapfinger, wouldn't the regal singular be "We is one?" (But that might require a regal gas called Welium.)
2
@polymath
Well.... He is one of the Royals, every bit as much as I.
Never intended it to make irrefutable sense; was just relaying how my mind was casting about in the absence of anything making sense.
Forgot to mention that 'Doan' linked in my mind to 'koan', so I had a dozen ideas trying to do Zen with that clue, instead of considering OTCs that ALEVE-iate pain.
2
Because I do the puzzles the morning after they appear, there are usually 100+ comments by the time I check in here.
Whenever INERT gas appears, one thing I always do is check to see how long it takes for someone to point out that the noble gases are not, in fact, INERT. There are usually two or three people who chime in quickly to make that point, often within the first hour
Imagine my surprise to see that nobody mentioned this yet! Maybe people are busy with their holidays this week.
5
Sadly, since I have now raised an issue with a clue and/or answer, I must add the standard disclaimer I developed a few weeks back:
Dunning-Kruger disclaimer: I mean what I say, no more and no less. Please do not ASSume that I am criticizing a crossword or a clue if I do not explicitly say I am doing so. I have been doing crosswords for several decades and, like almost everyone here, I understand the difference between a crossword clue and a dictionary definition as well as that crossword clues and answers need not adhere to how terms are used in a professional setting. I generally don't comment on matters of grammar in clues, and if I do, I will say so. If I point out how a term is used in my profession (marine biology) all I am doing is pointing out how it is used in my profession, no more, no less. I am not saying that crosswords, or people in general, are required to adhere to the professional terminology. I will say so if I mean otherwise.
3
Chief,
Did you miss the inert-noble joke (in the comments), or did you deem it too subtle?
@Barry Ancona I saw it -- it was a pretty good pun too.
But it didn't raise the issue I usually see raised here.
Doing the puzzle all week always helps . My " way in " today was CHIT - seen as IOU recently and ARIZ of course for tombstone .
Tough but wonderful . Somehow knew Eric the Red and I was off !
5
8D: How is "Wasn't down" LED?
1
@Treegarden
In terms of the score in a game. Had there been four spaces, it could have been tied.
3
@Treegarden
"The Red Sox LED the Yankees by six runs."
3
Challenging and interesting, from JOECAMEL to INERTGAS. So TREVORNOAH speaks eight languages? No wonder in this puzzle he is sitting atop AAVERAGES.
5
"He is one" = INERT GAS: O Mg Th At I S Pu N N Y
12
@Fact Boy
https://images.app.goo.gl/CaXZNBn3x8NxKctY6
You always come up with...
https://images.app.goo.gl/hZ212rKDKKfMthCh9
;D
1
@Leapfinger
He I S Al S O Ag As
2
Never heard of ODES of Solomon, or QUORA; never saw the "Hunger Games" movies, never heard of TAI Chi (but Googled it when I finished the puzzle,) don't follow the FIFA World Cup, or country music, vague on Pacific geography and languages, and chemistry, don't play chess, and spent a while wondering whether I was correctly remembering that a MAO JACKET was a real thing, so filling in the puzzle without looking anything up feels great!!
5
@retired, with cat
I more recall the NEHRU JACKETs that were popular in the 70's...never heard MAO was a fashion icon!
MOL,
The MAO clue did not reference or even hint at Western fashion.
Too fast for a Saturday in my opinion, but not without reward. I enjoyed HOTSYTOTSY, NAM/GUAM, ARNE (haven't seen ol' Thomas around much lately). JOECAMEL should be banned from puzzles. (Just kidding. But still . . . )
1
OOOOPH!! I could just about duplicate my comments from yesterday. Had to resort to AUTO CHECK again and, hence, must call this one a “Completion”. Also, I had to ‘research’ TUCCI and rely on Caitlin’s WoW for the NW corner - which was as white as the snow we do NOT have in the Leelanau Peninsula at the moment.
This one was TOUGH! But I enjoyed it very much.
I’m still at a complete loss for understanding 48A. Help please??
“He is one” for INERT GAS is a “Clue of the Month” - at least!
But I utterly LOATHE answers that involve ‘hard’ or ‘soft’ pronunciations. (Got this one though.)
4
Hi PeterW,
Teri Polo is an actress, I assumed it meant she was “playing” a role.
1
@PeterW
Leelanau - Now there’s a Natick waiting to happen!
@PeterW He is the symbol for Helium.
Forgot to mention that when I saw "Hepatologist's focus" and had ?IVE?, I confidently wrote in hIVEs. I thought the guy studied bees.
@Nancy
Hepatitis clued me in to that one.
2
@Andrew -- Good thinking.
@Nancy - I at first misread the clue as "herpetologist" and was trying to come up with some kind of snake I could jam into those squares. Doh!
3
I had only heard HOTSY-TOTSY in relation to a cute girl--a comment related to a wolf whistle.
Had never heard of QUORA...
Fell for the misdirections He and Chi...
...and of course, just one more reason to be impressed by TREVOR NOAH.
TERI for Polo playing??
And I don't care; you cannot make me watch "The Avengers" just so I can answer with LOKI when there is a more legitimate clue. (I loved all of the myths and legends in the Child Craft books.)
Have already run aground on the Saturday Stumper despite a brave start...
2
"And I don't care; you cannot make me watch "The Avengers" just so I can answer with LOKI when there is a more legitimate clue."
MOL,
Conversely, for the clue, I wanted EMMA or PEEL.
5
@Barry Ancona
Yes, that's my Avengers, and always will be.
4
@Liz B
Me three. Mrs. Peel, we’re needed.
2
Today, imo, makes three fun challenging puzzles in a row. Hadn't heard the phrase, " Hotsy Totsy," in decades. Now it's buzzing in my brain like an annoying fly.
6
@John Dietsch
Let’s all try to use it this weekend and maybe it’ll suddenly catch back on. (We are influencers after all). What’s it mean again? Oh yeah, A-OK. Easy enough, though I fear I might be misunderstood.
This one defeated me. It started badly when I was sure about 'Song' of Solomon and 'Yiddish' but they couldn't both be correct. Then there were several proper nouns I simply didn't know and a lot of difficult clues that I didn't have any or enough crossings to get.
After 20 minutes I turned on autocheck, looked up 49A and 10D, and completed in another 12 minutes. Some days are like that.
I always feel a little frustrated when a puzzle I enjoy also defeats me, but that's when I dive into the archives for a nice Wed or Thur puzzle from a decade ago!
2
Enjoyable, challenging, and lively. Everything I want in a themeless.
The struggle began at 1A where I tried to think of an ad figure in a tuxedo and sunglasses. My always-fuzzy memory and lifelong dedication to avoiding commercials didn't help. Was it CHARLIE THE TUNA? MR. PEANUT? Neither fit, so I went elsewhere. Later when JOE CAMEL came in, I thought: he wore a tuxedo????? Really?????? I always thought of JOE CAMEL as a rather scruffy guy.
How on earth do whales give birth? Don't they give birth just like everyone else? Or do they SPAWN like salmon? SPAWN didn't fit. I went elsewhere.
I did a lot of going elsewhere. Eventually ERIC THE RED, confirmed by CASAS and CHIT, gave me my toehold. But I kept looking at my whiter-than-snow NW and thinking I wouldn't finish. When I finally got SOLO ARTIST, followed by SAO PAULO, I realized that, yay, I would.
The most interesting and curiosity-provoking clue in this very entertaining puzzle? The TV host who's fluent in 8 languages. Are any TV hosts that bright, I wondered? Evidently TREVOR NOAH is. Good on you, TREVOR, as the Aussies would say. And a puzzle that was good fun.
3
Whoot!
Fun and approachable, lots of fresh entries.
The NE corner had me questioning my verb tense with “MIRE” and “ETCH”, and I didn’t recognize “CRAVE” as a luxury designation. Once EMILEZOLA anchored those clues I was fairly confident it was going to be ok.
The 28-Across had me flummoxed until “TORPEDOES”, “SKI AREA” and “YIDDISH” fell into place ... THOR and HULK preceded LOKI.
It somehow came together with just “ERIC / KASAS” needing a quick edit.
Joyeux nöel!
1
Few things are as joyous as hearing a crescendo and receiving a gold star on a Saturday morning.
More gleeful than a gaggle of geese, gushed Tom glowingly.
Never heard of SQUADGOALS.
And, if one has an army of caterpillars, may one have a squad of slugs? Might said slugs have a goal? Inquiring minds need to know!
Enough tomfoolery.
Thanks JL.
2
@dk How about a slew of slugs?
Hooray for Trevor Noah! Apart from all his accomplishments, some of the cutest dimples in the world.
6
The only answer I was really confident about after a first pass was SONG of Solomon, so that's how it went for me. Took me the better part of a blissful, engaging hour to finish. It was way better than HOTSY TOTSY.
Loved it!
8
Me too. Also was certain of CLOUD for nimbi!
1
Hi everyone, today was fun solve for me though I too have never heard hotsy totsy before! I’m considering registering for tournament in Stamford this year but am a bit nervous. For those that have been, what’s first experience like?
1
@Shireen - Go to a puzzle tournament! So much fun. Lots of room and welcome for everybody, and its so nice to find kindred spirits at play.
Don't forget that there are tournaments all over the place - not just the Stamford one. A good excuse for travel.
5
@Shireen
By all means, go! People from all over the country and definitely all ages. Get to see some of the constructors in person. Meet Deb and maybe Caitlin too. And everyone there has crosswords in common!
1
By the strangest coincidence, I met a woman this noon, named Shirin. (Pronounced "shireen"). She said the name was of Persian origin, meaning "charming" or "sweet". I wonder if our original poster is likewise of Persian descent?
1
An oddity per Xwordinfo.com:
ERIC THE RED: 13 appearances as entry; 26 appearances as clue
ERIK THE RED: 0 appearances as entry or clue
Perhaps that will change if he ever shows up in an Erik Agard puzzle.
10
@Puzzlemucker - it's good to have the historical data. I put in ERI- and waited to see what happened next.
C and K are represented by the same rune (a K shape missing the upper right stroke). English favored the C reading for a long time, so Eric the Red, Leif Ericson (his son), and King Canute are the traditional spellings that were used in English until recently. It wouldn't be right to assume a "correct" spelling, since the scandic languages have great variety in orthography. Just ask Olav, um, Olaf, um, Óláfr, um, Uulaavi, um, Ólafur.
Eirik
2
@David Connell
Thanks! This one seems even odder to me: per “Oh! baby names,” EriK is less popular as a baby name in the U.S. than EriC and EriCK. That caused me to go to the Social Security site, and it’s true: for the past several years, Erick has been a more popular baby name than Erik. In 2018, Erick was 280th most popular boy’s name, with Erik at 378th (Eric was 160th). As a youngster, I wanted to be named Eric. Seemed very cool to me.
https://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/babyname.cgi
1
@Puzzlemucker - in my life (very nearly 60 years now) - I've met exactly one Erick, one Eirikk, and the Erik vs. Eric split has otherwise been about even.
The interesting thing is how the Ann/Anne, Steven/Stephen, Eric/Erik, Elly/Ellie, divisions are characterizable, and tangible to those who own those names. A Deborah is not a Debra. Just ask Barbra.
Even with nicknames - I am never nobody's Dave. My old teacher got away with "Davey my boy" but anybody else who Davied me would get a talking to.
Hotsy totsy? Is this puzzle from 1919? Overall fast solve, but I sometimes wonder what decade the puzzle maker lives in...
1
@John Ranta
They live in whatever CENTURY may be required to come up with a word that fits a puzzle correctly.
1
He is one, but I was not and so I giggled.
Great clueing all around, a fun and smooth solve.
3
For me, this puzzle was a good reminder of the value of sleeping on it.
I had less than half completed last night in something approaching my normal completion time, and was staring at an impenetrable western half as well small gaps in the southeast. I went to bed thinking I'd wake up and then tackle this bruiser in the morning with a few Wikipedia assists, if necessary. Upon arising, the northwest mostly filled itself in like a smooth Tuesday, and I worked my way around counter-clockwise, finishing below average even with a few minutes wasted trying to spell SAO PAULO (I wanted a third "o," but "_oam" isn't a place that refugees from NAM went).
Great workout!
5
Good Saturday puzzle and a nice workout, but of course not a complete success for me. Had a solid block in the middle early on, starting with ERICTHERED, ARIZ and MAOJACKET. That was a promising start, but I couldn't quite get the rest of it without some cheating (look-ups and failed checks).
Throw '1975' into the clues for 24a and 26a and that's an immediate gimme. Wonder if it would be that way for most solvers.
Going to go back and take a shot at Thursday's puzzle. Spent about 10 minutes on it that morning before a round-trip drive to Kentucky. I wasn't doing well on it at that point. Maybe I'll do better the second time around.
3
@Rich in Atlanta Oh, late answer history search for today, vaguely inspired by 24a:
Wondered if INCOUNTRY had ever appeared in a puzzle (Hi Barry!). Nope. Would have been surprised if it had, but I've seen some more obscure phrases.
Hi Rich.
Neither has DEROS.
(short)
3
This was tough for me, just like I want it on Saturday, an ego shrinker that caused some lookups, but upon final inspection, was fair, and a great motivation to up my solving game. When I see your name on top of a puzzle, Julian, I know I'll be facing a good fight, and I'm grateful for that and today's beaut.
The funniest moment to me was having S____ARTIST and with [Whom nobody plays with] put in SAND ARTIST, one of those Buddhist monks who, with great concentration, makes gorgeous sand mandalas, then, immediately upon conclusion, destroys them. "Well, yes," I thought, "nobody would play with one of these artists while they are in such a great state of concentration, but isn't this a little arcane for a crossword?" When I finally got the correct answer, it was not only an "aha" but also a "hah!".
3
@Caitlin Re 53A: “really unique” Really?
9
@RogerM, you realize that there are uncommon reserves of 'ersatz unique' secreted in sparsely habited AREAS, right?
2
@Leapfinger
Caitlin is really unique, even though she is often confused with Deb. In fact, given how well she covers the most difficult puzzle of the week (Saturday) and the always challenging main weekend Variety puzzle, I’d say that she is really, really unique. Like TREVOR NOAH, she is not “ersatz unique” (a lovely coinage BTW).
2
Finishing this xword after some truly dismal first passes and then getting QBBB has rendered me insufferably smug for at least the next half hour.
JOE CAMEL has my vote for the least subtle phallic symbol of all time.
3
@AudreyLM
You've been browsing vintage Doonesbury, haven't you?
Thanks to recent discussions here, “Leader of Greece?” was a GIFt. Once GOALS was apparent, I smugly filled in SQUAD. And the clue for UCONN I did not find odd at all, although my geographical uncertainty had me trying UMASS briefly before UCONN.
Otherwise a pleasant Saturday challenge.
4
SPELLING BEE GRID
Dec 21st 2019
P C D O R T U
WORDS: 33, POINTS: 137, PANGRAMS: 1 (Perfect)
C x 8
D x 3
O x 4
P x 14
T x 2
U x 2
4L x 14
5L x 6
6L x 5
7L x 8
4 5 6 7 Tot
C 3 3 1 1 8
D 1 1 - 1 3
O - - 1 3 4
P 9 1 1 3 14
T - 1 1 - 2
U 1 - 1 - 2
Tot 14 6 5 8 33
51
@Mari strange words today include a baseball term that’s the opposite of an O6, a funny person, and a generic term for something with 8 appendages. 7 words starting or ending with out.
8
@Kevin Davis make that 6 out words.
3
@Mari thanks as always for the grid! Missing C5 that’s not a funny person or a childhood illness. Any hints would be appreciated!
3
LETTER BOXED
A-E(7), E-T(8)
3
I got a B-E (5), E-N (9).
@Andrew
I went longer with S-E (6) E-N (10).
My self-imposed time limits aren't proving conducive to efficient solves, although this is an apt phrase that came quickly as I was at a funeral mass yesterday.
LETTER BOXED
A-E(7), E-T(8)
Got the gold star, but don’t understand 48A, any help?
@Bill in Yokohama - Teri is the first name of an actress, Teri Polo. Tough one.
4
@Rosalita,
Cheers!
TONGA is 500 miles from Fiji, but in the south Pacific that is a close neighbor. It was also hard to visualize the TIMOR Sea as an arm. Neither of these comments are a geographical quibble.
1
Trevor speaks eight languages? I didn't NOAH that.
(Would've done an inert gas pun, but the good ones argon.)
34
@Mike Thanks for sparing us the inert gas pun. That was noble of you.
27
He is one ??? Oh jeeez, now I get it!
8
@Michele
Yes, He is one got a He He He outta Me.
1
I made sure when SQUAD GOALS appeared for the first time a couple of months ago to ETCH it in my memory for future use. Apparently my brain cells aren't SPONGES because I forgot it already, so I got MIREd down in that section
5
Enjoyable puzzle, solve time was a nice holiday gift.
Had a nice reaction to the clueing for He - which by definition, is non-reactive!
5
A number of stumbling blocks for me. I held onto SONG of Solomon and ALPHA for Leader of Greece (Greek) for too long. Also HOTSY TOTSY really through me for a loop. I tried to make ALL SYSTEMS GO fit here (with some letters taken out) but could not figure out the pattern (because there was none 😊). As a chemistry teacher I loved the clue for INERT GAS, but did not see it right away. I know who Teri Polo is but not sure why Polo Playing clues TERI. Why not Polo player (as in actress)? Despite some tough clues, crosses usually helped to figure things out. I enjoyed the challenge.
5
*Loved* the clue for INERT GAS. Great fill and cluing. A fast-ish solve, though I confidently placed MRPEANUT at 1A, impressed with the MRP sequence (that proves it’s right, right?) to start off on the wrong two left feet. That would be correct for “Bygone ad figure in a tuxedo jacket and monocle.”
9
Caitlin wrote: "Next to it is UCONN, which was subjected to the oddest clue of the day (I think)."
Not odd at all, IMO. Will is just letting us know that despite his personal NY location abutting CT, the recent NY/CT puzzle answer, and repeated comments here relating CT geography only to NY, he knows CT borders on two other states.
3
@Barry Ancona - as a CT resident and person familiar with both campuses and their towns - I was truly surprised to learn that they lie on the same east-west line (I went to the maps to check). Another of today's learnings, for me.
4
Feeling logy, I started the puzzle shortly after 10 p.m. I actually felt some self-disgust after my first pass, so barren was the landscape. Then there was a loud rap at our front door, startling my drowsing dog and me. I reflexively shouted “Hey!” It turns out a UPS driver had just left a package on our porch. Apparently, their policy is to bang loudly on the door after dropping the package, no matter the hour.
Suddenly awake and hyper-vigilant, I returned to the puzzle. Things started to make sense. Some long ones (HOTSY TOTSY, YIDDISH, etc.) and some shorter ones, and pretty quickly the bottom half and the NE filled in. Back to the previously inscrutable northwest. Now what had seemed impossible virtually solved itself: NAM/GUAM, SAO PAULO, SANDALWOOD, and done.
I owe that UPS driver a thank you.
(Some great cluing and fill. A fine Saturday challenge).
13
@Puzzlemucker
Similar story here. A bang on the door the other evening, and a package left outside. Five minutes later I received an email with a photo of my front door and the package clearly visible.
2
@Puzzlemucker Yeah, this was a good challenge. Lots of aha moments, nothing too crazy, and I didn't feel totally lost.
1
@Andrew
What a good idea that photo. Wonder if UPS is doing that south of your border. My daughter sent a friend of mine a big box and days went by with no mention of this surprise gift. I finally quizzed said friend. She found it stashed between her front door and storm door. Most of us never use our front doors.
1
Shouldn’t it be ERIK (with a K)? Not sure I’ve ever seen it spelled with a C in reference to this particular person. Feels like a bit of a cheat to get the down clue to work.
14
Raf,
I wondered about that too, but post-solve found a number of places using the C...
https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/0ee52408-d0bf-47d1-8b17-1154566ca233/eric-the-red-and-leif-ericson/#.Xf2ZB0dKiUk
2
I once looked up why it was disc vs disk. The answer was that depending on the year youre talking about, either the US or UK spelled it how they wanted....Sometimes it was for the BBC and spinning music...sometimes it was for computer media.
There never was a rule for either country...it was just whichever technology was at the forefront at the time.
I assume that the same holds true for Erik the Red....it just comes down to convention and who is using it at the time.
3
@Raf
Perhaps we should consult Louis CK.
6
Doing this puzzle, only one clue/entry pairing : stood out to me as worthy of comment: Whom nobody plays with: SOLO ARTIST (37A). As contradictory and counterintuitive as it may sound, this is patently untrue. A SOLO ARTIST (at least in the use I'm familiar with, popular music) is the only featured artist, and as such, when he or she goes on tour, the musicians in the background are interchangeable. They're likely not going to be the same ones that are on the recording. However, SOLO ARTISTs don't sing a cappella; nor do they play instruments like a one-man-band street musician. When a SOLO ARTIST records or tours, there are definitely other musicians playing along.
11
Steve,
A soloist may play alone or be a featured player. Both meanings are in the dictionary definition, and both will be found at concerts (but I agree that the former is unlikely at concerts of what I believe you mean by "popular" music).
2
@Barry Ancona
I agree with what you said, but let's focus on the clue, which sounded definitive: No one plays with a SOLO ARTIST. Not sometimes. Not ever. Never. That's why it is a poor clue, IMO.
Classical musicians who play without accompaniment (some of the time) are called soloists more than solo artists, no? I think SOLO ARTIST is a term more commonly used in pop music, to contrast with bands or groups. Hootie and the Blowfish are a band, but Darius Rucker is a solo artist. But when he performs as such, there are other musicians on stage with him. Always.
3
Steve,
I was addressing the FB-part of your post, noting some solo artists are playing alone.
As far as the clue, I'd have thought it a great clue even if a SOLO ARTIST always played with others: it's wordplay!
6
My reaction to HOTSY-TOTSY is similar to Caitlin's. Somehow I get a mental image of Blondie Bumstead, or maybe Dolly Parton. And I hear it spoken in Jimmy Durante's voice.
I guessed JOEL for ELIA at first--I figured it would have EL in it somewhere, and JOEL was the 4-letter name that came to mind. And I didn't know QUORA; I'll have to take a look at it. But those were just little blips in a pretty smooth solve.
12
@Liz B
Jimmy Durante used to say "ha-cha-cha." Is that why you thought of him?
3
@Liz B - For me, HOTSY-TOTSY brought to mind "Guys and Dolls", though I'd be surprised if it was ever used in the musical or movie.
1
Liz B,
I was fine with A-O.K. thanks to early exposure to the Three Stooges. I recall a "HOTSY TOTSY we shot another Nazi" (or similar) line from one of their early 40s shorts (seen on TV in the 50s). They were openly anti-Nazi before the U.S. entered the war.
https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/1940-three-stooges-satire-you-nazty-spy-premieres-1.5392293
1